Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed [Paperback]

Mario E. Moreira (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470746637 | ISBN-13: 978-0470746639 | Publication Date: December 8, 2009 | Edition: 1

Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams provides very tangible approaches on how Configuration Management with its practices and infrastructure can be adapted and managed in order to directly benefit agile teams. Written by Mario E. Moreira, author of Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap, columnist for CM Crossroads online community and writer for the Agile Journal, this unique book provides concrete guidance on tailoring CM for Agile projects without sacrificing the principles of Configuration Management.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams is aimed at all levels of professionals in the Agile, Configuration Management, Project Management and Product Management field. It provides very tangible approaches on how Configuration Management with its practices and infrastructure can be adapted and managed in order to directly benefit Agile teams.

Written by Mario E. Moreira, author of Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap, columnist for CM Crossroads online community and writer for the Agile Journal, this book provides concrete guidance on tailoring CM for Agile projects without sacrificing the principles of Configuration Management. When done properly, CM provides the lean and evolving structure needed for Agile projects to continue to run fast. CM and Agile can be a very powerful combination.

Sprinkled throughout the book are “Pit Stops” which provide insightful CM and Agile information in bite size chunks as take-aways for the reader and to encourage reading on.

Adapt to Continuous Integration and Build focusing on bite-size tasks, right-size branches, minimal merges, continuous build, and testing with teeth.

Adapt CM Planning away from big-effort-up-front (BEUF) to an evolutionary approach, applying an iteration O, adapting CM roles and responsibilities, and considering wikis and other formats.

Adapt CM to better support more effective Refactoring, Pair Programming, and Test Driven Development (TDD).

Adapt CM to support Distributed Development for Agile teams when co-location is not an option by performing a distributed analysis and considering the best code access solution.

Adapt CM to support Traceability, Baselines, Problem Management, CM Audit, CM Reporting, and lean metrics in an Agile context.

Merge the mindsets of CM and Agile to form a very powerful partnership.

Approach infrastructure for Agile through Infrastructure Envisioning for new products or Infrastructure Refactoring for existing infrastructure, minimizing infrastructure debt while considering infrastructure on-Premises or in-the-Clouds.

Approach CM infrastructure for Agile through implementing CM Envisioning for new products following Agile methods or thru CM Refactoring to adapt CM for an existing products moving to Agile.

Recognize CM tools that are a strategic Agile partner and how more modern CM features help with implementing Agile in an effective manner.

Effectively evaluate CM and Agile tools to better suit your Agile needs.

Effectively support your Agile needs when your organization, product team, or project must align with CM standards and frameworks.

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470746637
• ISBN-13: 978-0470746639
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,915 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #45 in Books > Computers & Technology > Project Management > Agile

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guide to SCM as an Agile Enabler, January 2, 2010

By 

Steve Berczuk (Arlington, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed (Paperback)

This book is a good guide to both CM and Agile principles, and it demonstrates how to use software configuration management to enable your team to be more agile. This book can guilde you to understanding how to manage releases in an agile environment, and how to apply basic CM concepts like build and branching successfully. This book is both a primer on agile for those with a traditional release management background, and and a primer on CM for those who understand agile. It won't replace a book on agile methods, but after reading it you will have enough background to know how to get started, and a good sense of what you need to learn more about. This book complements Software Configuration Management Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration as it is geared a bit more towards release managers, and those with a project focus than towards developers.

In addition to the basics of branching, build and release, this book covers topics such as how to leverage cloud service providers for infrastructure, how to leverage SCM to make off-shore development less painful, and how to evolve your SCM process in an agile, incremental, fashion. With a good structure that allows you to navigate the book quickly, and a good use of metaphor to describe concepts, this book will help a release managers, project managers, and architects define a SCM process that will help their agile teams do all that they can. (I was a reviewer of the manuscript. This review is based on the final edition.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great approach for those new to Agile or CM, December 28, 2009

By 

M.A. Strong, Ph.D. (Herndon, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed (Paperback)

The author uses a great "skip over" approach for those already versed in Agile or CM. They can jump right into Chapter 4 from the Introduction. For those that are new to either of those concepts -- well, they can just skip buying any other books because both a CM and a Agile primer are included and laid out in a succinct and understandable style. All-in-all an approachable and organized text with plenty of diagrams that illustrate the delicate branching strategies to align Agile and CM successfully.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good insights that reach well beyond CM, January 6, 2010

By 

Rich Mironov "Rich Mironov" (San Francisco/Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed (Paperback)

I've had the chance to read an early version of Mario Moreira's new book, "Adapting Configuration Management for Agile Teams: Balancing Sustainability and Speed." Mario is a long-time champion of software configuration management (SCM), agile development models and IT governance.

The book lays out core principles for CM, broadly recaps Agile, and nicely brings the two together. His core message is that highly productive Agile teams need good CM strategy and infrastructure to get software built and delivered - and that smart CM thinking is one source of continuous improvement. Mario puts to rest aside the false argument that Agile teams can do without good architecture, tools, planning and processes. Instead, he shows that the best Agile teams prefer incremental / iterative process definition in place of BEUF (big effort up front), which can be a good approach for CM professionals helping their Agile teams find a path to success.

Mario applies some great product-management-style thinking to identifying what Agilists value about CM, and therefore how to sequent (and justify) necessary investments in CM planning and tools. It's clear this comes from his deep experience at CA and Fidelity Investments, where he's persuaded lots of real participants to do the right thing. Chapter 4 of this book lays out values, perspectives and arguments that will be valuable to CM and Agile folks alike.

In many ways, this book identifies a similar cultural gap to the product manager/product owner problem I've been harping on...

Overall, this is a very good read for CM folks (who may be new to agile or dragging along preconceptions), agilists mapping out their infrastructure, and product managers/owners who should know how software is successfully built. Please find a place on your shelf for this.